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Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street)
One of Port Pirie's six railway stations, in operation from 1967 to 1989 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street) was the fifth of six railway stations for passengers that operated at various times from 1876 to serve the small maritime town (later city) of Port Pirie, 216 kilometres (134 miles) by rail north of Adelaide, South Australia. As with several of Port Pirie's other stations before it, the station was built to accommodate a change of track gauge on railway lines leading into the town.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Layout_of_Mary_Elie_Street_station_and_sidings%2C_Port_Pirie%2C_South_Australia.tif/lossless-page1-640px-Layout_of_Mary_Elie_Street_station_and_sidings%2C_Port_Pirie%2C_South_Australia.tif.png)
More information Station, Duration ...
Links to the articles about stations in Port Pirie | |||||
Station | Duration | Gauge | |||
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1 | Port Pirie (at what became known as Port Pirie South) | 1876 to after 1911 | ng | ||
2 | Ellen Street | 1902–1967 | ng | bg* | |
3 | Solomontown | 1911–1967 | ng | ||
4 | Port Pirie Junction – also signposted as, and known colloquially as, Solomontown | 1937–1967 | ng | bg | sg |
5 | Mary Elie Street (this article) | 1967–1989 | bg | sg | |
6 | Coonamia stopping place | 1st, 1929 to after 1937 2nd, 1989–2010s | sg | ||
* In 1937, one of the two narrow-gauge tracks along Ellen Street was made dual-gauge by the addition of broad-gauge rails. Gauges are shown in these colours: narrow, broad and standard. | |||||
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Port Pirie's six stations and the "multi‑gauge muddle" | |||||
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At various times during a period of close to 140 years, Port Pirie had six railway stations. During the 45-year period 1937–1982, the city became well known as one of the few locations in the world having three railway gauges.[note 1] This situation was a result of South Australia's slow transition from lightly constructed narrow gauge to heavy-rail broad gauge (which predominated in the state at the time), then to standard gauge when lines between the mainland state capitals were at last unified. As a consequence, all Port Pirie stations that succeeded the inaugural station of 1876 were either built to accommodate a change of gauge or were affected by one. The timeline, reasons for change, and gauges involved are shown in the following graphic. Timeline of Port Pirie's six railway stations ![]() | |||||
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Track_layout_Port_Pirie_main_yard_and_Mary_Elie_Street_station_1970-1989.tif/lossless-page1-640px-Track_layout_Port_Pirie_main_yard_and_Mary_Elie_Street_station_1970-1989.tif.png)
Quick Facts General information, Location ...
Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street) (1967–1989) | |||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Budd railcar CB2 and a luggage van waiting on the Commonwealth Railways (standard gauge) side of the Mary Elie Street platform, about half-way along its 700-metre (770-yard) length, about 1969. Broad-gauge South Australian Railways trains arrive on the other side.
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General information | |||||||||||||||||||
Location | Entrance 3 Mary Elie Street, Port Pirie, South Australia; parallel to Wandearah Road | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 33°11′03″S 138°00′43″E | ||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways 1967–1975 Australian National Railways Commission 1975–1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Adelaide to Port Pirie | ||||||||||||||||||
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